Speedster facing sentence

A young woman’s despair at her mother’s suffering from cancer was at the heart of two high-speed Hume Freeway incidents near Woomargama, a court has heard.

Highway Patrol officers became so concerned after Tayla Halpin sped away a second time that they abandoned their night-time pursuit

They simply hoped Halpin would turn her lights back on and slow down.

But the last they saw of her was continuing to speed-off into the distance at Table Top, near the Olympic Highway interchange. The Lavington woman reached speeds of up to 160km/h.

Solicitor Mark Cronin

Defence solicitor Mark Cronin has told Albury Local Court that “tragically”, Halpin’s mother had since died.

Mr Cronin said the background to Halpin’s offending was that she had a “complex mental health history”.

Halpin, 22, pleaded guilty to charges of P2 driver exceeding speed by more than an estimated 30km/h and drive recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous.

Albury Local Court has been told that Highway Patrol officers were doing routine patrols on the freeway on May 25 about 9.45pm when they saw a car travelling at “well above the 100km/h speed limit”.

They tried to catch-up to the car, which reached 145km/h. After both pulled over, a woman stuck her head out the driver’s window and yelled: “You could have stopped me back there before I was speeding.”

Halpin appeared “very agitated and upset” and was “shaking uncontrollably”.

After handing over her licence, Halpin said: “I’ve been on the phone to my mother all night, she has cancer.”

Soon after she sped off again, her speed checked at between 158km/h to 160km/h.